12 Nights
- 1st Day: Tunis arrival - Transfer to hotel
- Arrive at Tunis airport.
- Assistant will meet and greet guests once immigration and customs
formalities are cleared.
- Guests will be transferred to hotel
- Dinner and accommodation at Hotel Africa - 5-star.
- 2nd Day: Tunis - Medina - Carthage - Sidi Bou Said - Tunis.
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| The Tunis Medina |
08:30 - 10:00: Visit to the medina. Tunis is characterized by the
contrast between the medieval Arab medina and the French-built modern
city. The visit starts from Avenue Habib Bourguiba (the French era
downtown) and walks through the Echaouachia Souk (Traditional hat
“chachia” makers market) and the El Attarine Souk (perfume market) to
the Zitouna mosque.
- 10:30: Walk to Central Market. Discover the fish
market, spice market, fruit and vegetable market …
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12:30 Transfer to Carthage
- Lunch
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| Antonine Baths in Carthage |
14:00 sight seeing at Carthage archeological site. Few places in
Tunisia have such fascinating history as Carthage. Stand high above
modern Tunis on Byrsa Hill, close your eyes and let your imagination
transport you to ancient life in the Punic city, once the capital of
Roman North Africa. Sift through the layers of history built one atop
the other - Carthaginian, Roman, Christian… From the Carthage National
Museum at the top of the hill to Tophet's sacrificial sanctuary, passing
by the Antonine Baths and Punic Ports, Carthage's history reveals itself
with each step.
- Continue to Sidi Bou Said village.
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| Sidi Bou Said |
Sidi Bou Said is an Andalousian village with white walls and blue
doors in contrast. At the famous café of Sidi Bou Said overlooking the
Tunis Bay and yacht harbor, clients will enjoy a relaxing time for a tea
break and some souvenir shopping.
- Return to hotel.
- Dinner and overnight at Hotel Africa - 5-star.
- 3rd Day: Tunis - Dougga - Kairouan
- 07:30 Breakfast at hotel.
- Photo stop in Testour Andalousian village.
- Start the visit to Dougga ruins. Dougga, the best preserved Roman site
in Tunisia. It houses one of the biggest Roman ruins in North Africa. The
tour starts with the theatre, erected during the second Century and
donated by the Gracchus family and continues to the "Place des Roses de
Vent," the Market Place (dominated by Mercury, god of commerce), the
well preserved Capitoline Temple, dedicated to the three Roman deities,
the Forum, the Public Licinius Baths and ends with the House of Trifolium,
the Cyclopes therms and the magnificent twelve-seat latrines.
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| The Roman ruins at Dougga |
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Continuation to Kairouan.
- Kairouan founded by Okba Ibn Nafaa thirteen centuries ago as the first
Islamic city in the Maghreb. Today it has retained the peace of a
provincial town, while boasting one of the Moslem world’s most prestigious
monuments.
- Transfer to hotel.
- Dinner and overnight at Hotel La Kasbah - 5-star.
- Lunch at a restaurant in Hammamet.
- 4th Day: Kairouan - Gafsa - Tozeur
- 07:30: Buffet breakfast at hotel.
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Start the visit of Kairouan Islamic monuments. The Great Mosque of Sidi
Okba. Built only of plain bricks, marble and cedar wood, it features
beautiful gilded ceramic work; an art practiced by 9th Century Kairouan
craftsmen. Also visit the two remaining 9th century Aghlabites Basins
which were one of the greatest waterworks of the middle Age. The basins
are seen from the top of the Tourist Information building with an
introduction to the foundation of Kairouan and its glorious age. While
there are quite a number of Zaouia in existence, the most well-known
must be Zaouia of Sidi Sahab as the barbar’s mosque. After the Prophet’s
death in 685, Abi Zomaa is said to have carried three hairs from his
head. The building, which is a popular pilgrimage destination, dates
from the 14th Century, although it was largely rebuilt in the 17th
Century. Its tile decoration is just marvellous!
- Lunch
- Continuation to Tozeur via Gafsa. Tozeur is one of the most popular
traveller's destinations in the southern region. It is an interesting
old town with a great setting overlooking an enormous palmerie. First of
all we visit old town “ouled el-Hadef,” the town’s delightful old
quarter built in the 14th century AD to house the El-Hadef clan. The
area is a maze of narrow, covered alleys and small squares. It is famous
for its amazing traditional brick-work, which uses protruding bricks to
create intricate relief patterns. The style is found only here and in
nearby Nefta.
- Dinner & Accommodation at Hotel Ras El Ain - 4-star.
- 5th Day: Tozeur - Chebika - Tamerza - Mides - Ong El Jmel - Tozeur
- Buffet breakfast at hotel.
- Transfer to Chebika by 4WD. Continue to Mountainous Oases. The
beautiful old Berber villages of Tamerza, Mides and Chebika lie close to
the Algerian border in the rugged Jebel en-Negeb ranges. The three have
existed since Numidian times and were part of the Limes Tripolitanus
defensive line developed by the Romans to keep out marauding Saharan
Tribes. All the villages were abandoned after the region was hit by
torrential rain in 1969; the villagers moved to new settlements that
were hastily constructed nearby. The original ones are now ‘Ghost
Villages’ and they are fascinating places to visit!
- Departure to Ong El Jmel, where the films Star Wars and The English
Patient were shot, sight seeing , sunset and panoramic view.
- Return to Tozeur, Dinner and Accommodation at Hotel.
- After dinner optional visit to Dar Cherait
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Then we continue to Dar Cherait museum. The fascinating Dar Cherait
museum, housed in a restored mansion, has an extensive collection of
pottery, antiques and rooms set up as replicas of scenes from
traditional Tunisian life - past and present. Clients can wander through
these beautiful scenes, richly decorated to show the bedroom of the last
bey, a palace scene, a typical kitchen and a Bedouin tent. Guests get a
very deep idea about Tunisia’s past and present.
- Dinner and overnight at Hotel Ras El Ain 4-star.
- 6th Day: Tozeur - Chott El Jerid - Douz - Matmata
- Transfer to Douz via Chott El Jerid (a thousand-square kilometres
salt lake that looks, on a sunny day, like an infinite polished marble
floor.) Midway across Chott El Jerid, guests stop to take photos of
mirages.
- Douz (94km/1.5h) is a small town that lies at the north-eastern edge
of the Great Eastern Erg and touts itself as the gateway to the Sahara!
- Lunch.
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| Troglodyte dwelling at Matmata |
Continue to Matmata (45km/1h). Approaching Matmata, it is easy to
overlook the bustling life just underneath the surface of the earth. A
few above-ground homes (including a school) indicate this nearly surreal
town. This is where the troglodyte dwellings are located – either sunk
into the soft rock of the hillside or in pit-style construction into the
ground. Take a tour of these fabulously interesting, yet aesthetically
simple homes.
- Dinner and overnight at Hotel Diar El Barbar - 4-star.l.
- 7th Day: Matmata - Toujene - Beni Khadeche - Ksar El Halouf - Ksar
Ghilane
- After breakfast, transfer to Tataouine by 4WD in order to visit the
Berber Ksours.
- The "ksour" (plural of ksar) are the North African strengthened
villages, from Morocco to Libya. Throughout the south, nomadic Berbers
stored their grain in Ghorfas, small stone cells (the Arabic word means
"room") a couple of metres high and five to ten metres long. The cells
were generally constructed on top of one another and side by side, at
times reaching eight storeys.
- Lunch.
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| Pan Sea Camp |
Continue the desert cruise by 4WD to the heart of nowhere : Ksar
Ghilane. At the pan sea, Ksar Ghilane, nestled at its own oasis in the
middle of the desert, offering its unique charm. It is is a refreshing
stop after the first waves of the Erg, a place to wonder at the softness
of the dunes, the majesty of the mountains, the transparency of the
desert nights. All tents are equipped with air conditioning, heating,
shower, restaurant, bar, swimming pool and terrace, solarium,
traditional panoramic observation tower...
- Dinner and overnight under tents.
- 8th Day: Ksar Ghilane
- Full board at Pan sea Camp.
- Free at leisure.
- Swimming in the hot spring, trekking in the Sahara, camel riding,
horse riding …
- 9thDay: Ksar Ghilane - Chenini - Ksar Haddada - Medenine - Gabes.
- After breakfast, departure by 4WD to Chenini, visit to the Berber
mountain village.
- Lunch.
- Continuation to Gabes via Ksar Haddada and Medenine. The main
attraction in the city centre is the souk area; there are stalls selling
fruit and vegetables, spices, dried fish and mounds of green henna, for
which the city is renowned.
- Dinner and overnight at Hotel L’oasis - 4-star.
- 10th Day: Gabes - Sfax - El Jem - Monastir - Tunis.
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| El Jem |
After breakfast, departure to El Jem via Sfax. Transfer to El Jem
(60km from Sousse/1h). El Jem’s second amphitheatre is the main attraction
and is one of Tunisia’s most visited sites. This monumental amphitheatre,
built in the mid 3rd Century AD (230-240 AD), is the largest Roman
monument left in Africa and ranks third in the Empire after those of Rome
and Verona. Being one of the last large amphitheatres built during the
Roman era, its architectural design is an improvement over that of the
Colisseum of Rome, though it is not a great deal smaller.
- Continuation to Monastir.
- Lunch.
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| The Ribat |
Visit to the Ribat and Bourguiba mausoleum. The Ribat (ancient
fortress) in Monastir was manned by Islamic warriors using the Ribat as a
monastery.
- Return to Tunis.
- Transfer to hotel.
- Dinner and overnight at Hotel Africa - 5-star.
- 11th Day: Tunis full day free.
- Full day free at leisure to explore Tunis.
- Free at leisure for rest and shopping.
- Dinner and overnight at Hotel Africa - 5-star.
- 12th Day: Departure.
- Transfer to airport and Departure.
- Assistance at check in.
- Fly home .
To book, or for more information about these packages, please contact us on
+27 11 678 4777 or +27 11 478 2884 or email us on:
info@egyptandbeyond.co.za.
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